There's a word we use to speak of those who consider themselves righteous. We call them self-righteous. Usually that word is used as an adjective to modify other labels such as hypocrite, phony, bastard, and a few others that are not repeatable on this forum.

Quis custodiet ipsos custodes? Who can watch the watchmen?"No one is paying attention to your post reports"Why do posters that claim to have me blocked keep sending me pms and responding to my posts? That makes no sense.

Question a friend, perhaps he did not do it; but if he did anything so that he may do it no more.A hasty quarrel kindles fire,and urgent strife sheds blood.If you blow on a spark, it will glow;if you spit on it, it will be put out; and both come out of your mouth

Well, since the right side of the brain controls the left side of the body and the left side of the brain controls the right side of the body, it goes to reason that left-handers are the only persons in their right mind. (FWIW, I'm a righty, and very much so.)

Lets see how many here are among the righteous. The fact is that we have to be righteous to get into the level of heaven where the saints are. The poll is anonymous so it doesn't involve pride. For the record, I believe that I am only in between the righteous and the unrighteous. I am not intending to judge others...

The truly righteous KNOW that they are righteous and don't mind telling people the truth because it's by cooperation with grace. To claim to not be righteous is to hide the light. Yashua said to let your light shine before all of humanity.

You should stop listening to demons.

None of the saints ever claimed to be holy or righteous, but the worst of sinners.

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Quote from: GabrieltheCelt

If you spend long enough on this forum, you'll come away with all sorts of weird, untrue ideas of Orthodox Christianity.

Quote from: orthonorm

I would suggest most persons in general avoid any question beginning with why.

Well, since the right side of the brain controls the left side of the body and the left side of the brain controls the right side of the body, it goes to reason that left-handers are the only persons in their right mind. (FWIW, I'm a righty, and very much so.)

"Are you righteous? Kind? Does your confidence lie in this? Are you loved by all? Know that I was, too. Do you imagine your suffering will be any less because you loved goodness? Truth?"

« Last Edit: May 05, 2012, 08:42:25 PM by Jetavan »

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If you will, you can become all flame.Extra caritatem nulla salus.In order to become whole, take the "I" out of "holiness". सर्वभूतहितἌνω σχῶμεν τὰς καρδίας"Those who say religion has nothing to do with politics do not know what religion is." -- Mohandas GandhiY dduw bo'r diolch.

God can, James. He gave us as humans those hormones so that we may mature, but without an accompanying growth in our understanding of how we should be as children of God, we become little more than slaves to our impulses.

As to "improvement", this is not something to declare ourselves, is it? After all, Abba Isaiah teaches us that humility is to admit that we have done nothing good before God. Then again, some might be confused for more simple reasons, such as some of what has come through in some of your posting. We might all be similarly convicted, but hopefully we wouldn't therefore state how much better we are than yesterday, knowing ahead of time that in 10 days/months/years, we'll be likely to look back on our "improvement" and think "wow...and I thought I was improved?!" It is a matter of perspective, of course, and that will change as you mature out of being a hormonal teenage boy, God willing.

Lets see how many here are among the righteous. The fact is that we have to be righteous to get into the level of heaven where the saints are. The poll is anonymous so it doesn't involve pride. For the record, I believe that I am only in between the righteous and the unrighteous. I am not intending to judge others...

There are two ways of looking at this.

No one is righteous if one judges himself. As others have pointed out, there is lots of Scripture behind that.

However, if you are not talking about any particular individual but an average person before and after his illumination, it is true that one who has been baptized and Chrismated has the opportunity of becoming righteous sometime after the old man has died and rises up again in Christ in the waters of baptism. Is this what you are driving at?

Am I not best served to see myself as the worst of sinners? If repentance is a process that can lead to my sanctification (Theosis) wouldn't it be best that I simply give praise to God for the refinements He works in me, and focus not on any righteousness that belongs to Him anyway, but on my brokenness that has yet to be healed?

I sometimes find it necessary to stop and recognize the fruits of His work in my heart, yet, feel if I look too long at my progress I will be distracted from the pruning that is left to be done. Am I wrong to be cautious of the evil ones desire that I see myself as righteous so that I become disillusioned and grow no more?

Not only that but if my heart is deceiving and my mind is broken how could I possibly know if I am righteous in His eyes or not? (to this question I would love an answer)

As I write I truly realize; who am I trying to kid, no, I am far from righteous. I am a repenting sinner. Nothing less and nothing more.

Lord have mercy and purify my heart!

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There are heathens that live with more virtue than I. The devil himself believes Jesus Christ is the Son of God. Neither of these things truly makes me Christian.

Actually, it does involve pride. One doesn't have to be recognized in order to be prideful. The moment a Christian believes himself to be righteous is the moment he is not.

I agree with Schultz.

In order to admit that you are a righteous person it means you are full of pride. """I'm so good, I'm so great, I'm righteous.""" As sinners, we all fall short of the glory of God. Our struggles and sins are before us. Let God decide if we are righteous when our time comes...

I'd say I have all of my other vices under control and gradually improving except for my lust and sexual immorality which only grows worse and worse from the teenage boy hormones.

I believe that all sins lead pretty much to the same place. Of course, one can say "hell".... But many sins are the same thing.

Let's take murder for example. When you murder, you often lie to the victim.When you murder, you steal time from the victim's life.When you murder, you have hatred against a brother or sister.When you murder, you are not participating in the golden rule.

Lying, adultery, lust, and many sins involve a conglomeration of many sins put together.

I'd say I have all of my other vices under control and gradually improving

Really?

Confidently. On the road to recovery. I just cannot change the fact that I'm a hormonal teenage boy.

How many vices do you have that you can control all but one?

4. Laziness, Anger, Gluttony and finally Lust. The former three I am working on and making progress, but the latter one I only grow worse and worse with.

How about pride, the most insidious of all vices? Even at 2 1/2 times your age, I still struggle with this vice, and I certainly can't say that I've gained any control over it. If you can say in all honesty that you've gained any mastery over this vice of pride, you're much farther on the path of theosis than I am.

I'd say I have all of my other vices under control and gradually improving

Really?

Confidently. On the road to recovery. I just cannot change the fact that I'm a hormonal teenage boy.

How many vices do you have that you can control all but one?

4. Laziness, Anger, Gluttony and finally Lust. The former three I am working on and making progress, but the latter one I only grow worse and worse with.

How about pride, the most insidious of all vices? Even at 2 1/2 times your age, I still struggle with this vice, and I certainly can't say that I've gained any control over it. If you can say in all honesty that you've gained any mastery over this vice of pride, you're much farther on the path of theosis than I am.

I might not have totally mastered it, but I have pride under control and I am getting a lot better at controlling it. You know what makes it easy for me? I have nothing to be proud about. In fact, in many cases I find myself ashamed of my life. That's the beauty of misery and coming from a screwed up family; you have no reason to be proud When I do indulge in pride, it is usually when I brag about my Orthodoxy and diss Protestantism, but, as some of you may have noticed, I have not been doing that as often, thanks to my friend Orthonorm's advice